Friday, September 02, 2016

TRAVEL GUIDE CROATIA PART 1 - WHERE TO STAY?

In the beginning of this year Daniel and
I decided we wanted to fill in our holiday a little bit different than what we're used to. Our plan? Driving
through Europe as opposed to our usual holiday by plane. Direction? Croatia.
Ultimate goal? Reaching Dubrovnik! Nicknamed ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’, the city lies
over 1850 kilometers from my hometown! As you can imagine, a thrilling voyage for two twentysomething soulmates :-).

A couple of months ago, we started reading (more) into the Balkans history, researching activities, pinning inspiring images on our shared Croatia Pinterest board, and drawing up a map full of icons at certain locations in Google Maps. This way, we had some idea of the places we wanted to visit and this made it easier to figure out our next move once we crossed the Croatian border. We had been playing with the idea of a roadtrip in our heads since the end of 2015 but ended up booking accommodations only 10 days in advance. As in, places to spend the first two nights. For the other nights we figured we would see once we arrived at our destination. Adventures, baby!

Accidentally bumped into this cool green oasis in the heart of Split

Daniel and I had such an amazing time on this trip that I decided to write a series of posts that could be used as an inspirational guide in case any of you want to visit Croatia. This first post is all about accommodation and will cover everything you need to know about the towns we stayed in, affordable places to sleep suitable for a couple and what it is like to pack up your stuff every few days to explore a new venue, city and region.
In the seventeen days abroad we visited six countries: Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro. In chronological order we stayed in the following places: Regensburg (D), Maribor (SLO), Plitvice (HR), Split (HR), Orašac (HR), Prapratno (HR), Starigrad- Paklenica (HR), Bled (SLO) and Bischofswiesen (D). This travelguide on where to stay includes all of these places.I am excited to share our experiences with you!

Exploring the little streets of Dubrovnik

When driving down south from the Netherlands, the obvious thing one notices is the change in scenery. As Daniel and I passed the Ruhr district the low countries made room for hilly landscapes that turned into beautiful mountains of smaller mountain ranges and eventually, on day 2, the Alps. I was ready to hop out of the car, put on my hiking shoes and start exploring! But with our goal in mind we drove further. The first place we stayed at was quite unusual...

Day 1 - Regensburg, Germany.

The first
stop on our trek was AZUR campsite Regensburg in south-east Germany. We stayed in a “campingfass", in other words a huge wine barrel. How freaking cool is that? Especially for us wine lovers. We didn’t see that much of the city itself because we were short on time due to the fact that we were in transit. We went on an
evening stroll along the Danube river (Donau) and ordered pizza at this really
affordable place Pizza Wok only a short distance away from the campsite. The wine barrel itself was super cozy and an original way to spend the night. It was fairly cheap to stay here but there was no WiFi available in the wine barrel. You also don't have the opportunity to cook because there are no cooking facilities. The bed was really great and if you want you can even turn on the electric blanket and or heat plate at the ceiling. That would be especially nice during the fall or winter time.

Day 2 - Maribor, Slovenia.

The campingfass we found online when surfing at booking.com. Same goes for the accomodation where we spend our second night. This one was situated in Maribor, Slovenia and was called 4 Rooms. The residence was very neat and modern. The facilities, shower, toilet, lounge area, were all great as well as the WiFi connection. When you step out the front door, you are in the centre of Slovenia's second largest city. We had scrumptious salads at this place called Isabella Food and Wine. In the evening we went on a walk again, this time along the Drava river and through the centre of Maribor. It is a clean, small city with a few really beautiful buildings. Spending one night here will give you enough time to explore everything.

Day 3 - Plitvička Jezera, Croatia.
In the afternoon we drove by a lovely hotel named Winnetou and we walked in to ask if they had a room available. To our satisfaction they did. It was on the third floor, enclosed a super soft bed and included breakfast #deal. WiFi was really good here as well. In the afternoon we were feeling adventureous so we crossed the border with Bosnia and visited some waterfalls. We also drove up some scary steep roads to get a panorama view over the area. Back on the Croatian side, we had dinner at Restaurant Vila Velebita. Even though the service was not great, we got other people's ketchup and bread we never ordered, we were grateful to have found a restaurant that served good food because it was icy cold out and we started to get hangry! ;-)

Day 4 - 5 - 6 - Split, Croatia.

Driving through Split is quite the undertaking. That is, when you can't stop your boyfriend from driving into old town where the streets are as broad as your average shopping cart. A young woman came jumping out of her seat and she told us with a lovely Croatian accent that we shouldn't drive further because our car simply would get stuck. Of course we turned around and parked our car in a nearby parking lot. We carried our bags through all the little streets to find the apartment we had booked for three nights: Guesthouse Dora Varoš. The thing we loved most about this accommodation was its location as it was in the middle of old town and withing two minutes you would stand in the busiest streets of Split. The hostess was very kind and our room was proportionally okeydokey. The big downside to the room we got was that there were two single beds on the opposite sides of the room. There was no way we could put these together so we ended up sleeping in a small bed together which I have to admit was kinda romantic. WiFi was good.

Day 7 - 8 - Orašac, Croatia.
We were getting really close to our end goal Dubrovnik but we didn't wanna spend too much money in this expensive city. That's why we opted for campsite Pod Maslinom, under the olive tree, only a short distance from Dubrovnik. Of all the campings we stayed at, this one was the most basic. Basic in the most positive sense of the word. We pitched a tent at a small plateau in a quiet corner of the campsite. It was cheap and very clean. The road leading to the beach was very steep so it was quite the workout! This campsite is on the smaller side. They don't take reservations so make sure you're early to secure your spot. And always good to know: WiFi was only available at the reception but very s l o w. All in all a very nice campsite that I would highly reccommend to people who are looking for tranquility.

Day 9 - Prapratno, Croatia.
This village and campsite Prapratno are located in a bay at the beginning of the Peljesac peninsula. As you can see in the photo down below, we made quite a mess of our spacious spot that we could pick out ourselves. Bags and loose items everywhere! It was just more convenient to put all of our stuff, no valuables, out there as it wasn't going to rain anytime soon and the weight loss made it easier for our Twingo to drive uphill. The campsite was on the bigger side and there were multiple washrooms. There was a shop which turned out to be extremely convenient when we found out our airbed had a leak! We took care of that and explored the beautiful peninsula that day. WiFi and electricity are excluded and we decided we didn't need them for one night.

Day 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - Starigrad-Paklenica, Croatia.Bluesun camp Paklenica was the most expensive campsite of our holiday but secretly our favorite. It did include unlimited access to the hotels swimming pool which made us totally love this campsite. There were a lot of cool dogs celebrating their holidays with their owners, the atmosphere was just right and the WiFi worked fine most of the time. The beach was really close, the pool was great and it was all withing a few minutes' drive from Paklenica National Park, which I will tell you all about in the next episode of this Croatia travel guide! The campsite shop was amazing, they sold lots of freshly baked goods each morning. One thing I didn't like so much but is hardly worth mentioning is that a lot of fellow Dutchies were staying at this campsite. Nothing against Dutchmen, I just noticed it.

Day 14 - 15 - 16 - Bled, Slovenia
Lake Bled is so beautiful. No wonder a lot of tourists choose to visit this lovely lake. The village is quite small but there is so much to do, see and explore in the area. The campsite is simply called Camp Bled and it is huge! The price per night was affordable, especially when you think of the location which was right by the lake. The water of the lake is crystal clear and icy cold but that didn't stop us from jumping in! Unfortunately I don't have any photos from our tent at the campsite but I can tell you this much: it was very green and neat. WiFi worked fine most of the time and we met really friendly neighbours!

Day 17 - Winkl, Germany.
For our last day we took the most beautiful route through the Alps to get to Campingplatz Winkl-Landthal. I will tell you all about the road we took to get here in one of the upcoming posts so stay tuned. We only stayed at this campsite one night and we were gone most of the day but those moments we spent there were good. It was a lot colder than all the other places we stayed. The owners had hung up little papers everywhere telling you what to do and especially what not to do. I thought it was quite funny but perhaps it could give the wrong impression to someone who is not used to that. Downside, there was no WiFi available at this campsite but you could choose to see it as a plus side of course! :-) We chose a place at this huge green field below.

We never made reservations in
advance for campsites, simply because if you’re early enough there is always
place for 2 persons, a small tent and a Twingo :-). For our stays in Regensburg, Maribor and Split we used booking.com to find a suitable residence. In some of the places we stayed only for 1 night, and sometimes we chose to stay a bit longer. That all really depends on the kind of activities we wanted to do in the proximity. It is nice being able to leave most of your stuff in your room or by your tent, taking only one backpack and stay away the entire day instead of having to move around with all your belongings. That is why Daniel and I decided to mix it up. Even though my family and I never really went campsite when I was younger, I did really enjoy having little luxury, being able to slow down and do things a little bit different as you would at home.Did you ever visit Croatia? Or do you plan to visit in the future? Let me know, I would love to be of any help!